What to Do in Aarhus, Denmark, 2017's European Capital of Culture

The restaurant- and museum-heavy Danish city has a monumental year ahead.

You’d be pardoned for not knowing much about Aarhus. The small Danish city on the rugged Jutland Peninsula has long played second fiddle to its slicker sister city, Copenhagen. Second cities are usually second cities for a reason, but being one is part of Aarhus's appeal. It still feels like a place that belongs to the locals. The many cobbled streets, age-old buildings and university campus give it a small-town quality, while it’s innovative dining scene and many acclaimed museums offer an impossibly international quality.

Unlike Copenhagen, where boats chug past Noma so tourists can get a glimpse (let alone a reservation) at Rene Redzepi’s Holy Grail, Aarhus’s dining scene is riddled with chefs that, although less-recognized, are no less skilled. “In Aarhus, there’s been a movement where all the talented chefs don’t want to move to Copenhagen, they want to stay here. Redzepi started a trend (in Copenhagen) and now Aarhus has caught on,” says Stephen Haar, from Food Organisation of Denmark.

Up until four years ago, the Michelin guide in Denmark hadn’t gone beyond Copenhagen. Now, Aarhus has three Michelin starred restaurants. “The restaurant scene [in Aarhus] was quite boring up until around five years ago,” says Haar. It’s in these five years that the city has seen a 30 percent increase in people spending money at restaurants. “If you give people a good dining experience, you create a market for good food,” Haar continues. But perhaps Aarhus’s real stamp of approval as Denmark’s next great food city came when it was named the European Region of Gastronomy for 2017.

The restaurant scene in Aarhus isn’t just good, it’s pioneering. At Restaurant Haervaerk, where they source 98 percent of their produce from nearby farms, the chef makes everything in-house, including a collection of fermented drinks. At Restaurant Domestic, they ferment, pickle, brew and juice all their own products. Everything from the fish sauce to the kombucha is made there. “Many chefs [here] are investing in farms, so they can develop produce themselves,” says Haar.

But food isn’t the only ingredient that is igniting Aarhus as 2017’s go-to destination. On top of becoming the European Region of Gastronomy, the city has been named the European Capital of Culture for 2017. This is the first time one city has received both titles in the same year. In North America, we may be far-removed from the importance of these titles, but in Europe, it’s kind of a big deal. “When you’re nominated as the cultural capital of Europe, it’s a signal of quality and diversity,” says Brent Sørensen, head of communications at Aarhus 2017. “The idea is to share the great diversity of European and international culture,” he continues. Aarhus has been gearing up for this event since 2005, and no opportunities to prove the city’s merit have been missed. “The diversity of the program is enormous,” says Sørensen. Throughout the year, cultural events will take place all over the city. From ballets to art installations and interactive dinners, Aarhus will become a cultural explosion.

The city has always had a strong cultural scene, so events aside, its myriad of museums will continue to draw a cultural crowd. The architecturally impressive Moesgaard Museum is an innovative, interactive museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. This might sound boring in theory, until you see the captivating exhibitions: a display of the oldest bog body in the world, and the surround-sound room, which offers visitors the chance to experience a ‘real’ viking attack. For art lovers, the ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum art museum has a slew of rotating and permanent exhibitions. Its most renowned permanent piece sits atop the museum building: an iconic, bright rainbow panorama walkway created by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson that wraps around the roof.

For the city of Aarhus, sustainability is crucial. So even at the end of this momentous year, Aarhus will remain as relevant as it is in 2017. “There’s been a vision for infrastructure. We are trying to think about the legacy. We hope that by strengthening the city, Aarhus will become an international trend,” says Sørensen. If the innovative Danes have anything to do with it, we’ve no doubt they’ll succeed. So much for playing second fiddle. This year, Aarhus is coming in first.

The opening ceremony for the inauguration of Aarhus as the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2017 will take place on Saturday, January 21.